- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: CHRW) announced this week that they are partnering to digitally transform supply chains of the future.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: CHRW) announced this week that they are partnering to digitally transform supply chains of the future. This will be done by combining C.H. Robinson’s Navisphere and Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT to meet the constantly changing demands of evolving global supply chains. And through the partnership, the companies aim to enable real-time visibility for C.H. Robinson customers.
With the partnership, C.H. Robinson’s Navisphere will now utilize Azure IoT Central to integrate IoT device monitoring for measuring factors like temperature, shock, tilt, humidity, light and pressure in shipments to give customers an even more detailed level of intelligence about goods as they move through the supply chain. And together, C.H. Robinson and Microsoft will work with many of the biggest corporations around the world — which means this alliance makes it even easier to scale and develop new solutions to provide the world’s largest shippers with greater supply-chain efficiency, real-time insights and visibility.
This new partnership builds on C.H. Robinson and Microsoft’s history of working together. For example, C.H. Robinson built Navisphere Vision in collaboration with Microsoft. The product leverages Azure IoT solutions, machine learning, and predictive analytics to assess potential disruptions across supply chains. And through C.H. Robinson’s TMC division and Navisphere Vision, Microsoft is driving innovations in its own supply chain for providing more predictability and proactive decision-making to its various business groups.
Along with C.H. Robinson’s innovation on Azure, the company is also utilizing Dynamics 365 and Power BI to streamline its customer relationship management (CRM) platform in order to support C.H. Robinson’s commitment to customer centricity from small business to the world’s largest shippers. And as part of its relationship with Microsoft, C.H. Robinson will integrate its real-time pricing, execution, and transportation management tools into Dynamics 365 in order to make these digitally-driven logistics capabilities available to Microsoft customers.
Key Quotes:
“The pace of change we’re seeing in the supply-chain industry today is unparalleled. Being able to quickly scale and adapt our technology is what helps give our customers a competitive advantage. As we continue to invest and enhance our technology built by and for supply-chain experts, we look to partner with other best-in-class companies that bring the most value to our customers. Through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, we gain more scalability, premier data security and increased application speed, which benefit our customers and carriers around the world.”
— Chris O’Brien, chief commercial officer, C.H. Robinson
“We are committed to providing customers with a trusted, easy-to-use platform so they can build seamless, smart and secure solutions regardless of where they are on their IoT journey. We’re thrilled to collaborate with C.H. Robinson as it transforms the supply-chain industry by leveraging our Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT solutions.”
— Sam George, corporate vice president of Azure IoT at Microsoft
“The supply chain of the future is smarter, less volatile and can be navigated with a new level of visibility thanks to the power of this relationship. Through this collaboration, our customers receive a greater competitive edge, as well as industry-leading insights and expertise.”
— Jordan Kass, president of Managed Services at C.H. Robinson
